Dark Prince (Sands of Time)
The Dark Prince (also known as the Sand Prince) is one of the antagonists in The Two Thrones. Appearance When the Prince is transformed, the Dark Prince would take his place in physical form. The Dark Prince was known for his burnt blackened body that seemed to flow with ghastly smoke, yellow eyes burning, its torso cast in crazed burning designs of sand; it's hair flowing upward like smoke and cinders, arms and back pocked with black scaly horns. He embodies every negative aspect of the Prince, his rage and pride giving him physical form and energy to feed off of. Biography Warrior Within The Dark Prince made his first appearance in the true ending of Warrior Within as a hooded figure who picks up Sharaman's crown and proclaims everything the Prince owns by birthright is his as well. The Two Thrones Early in the game, the Prince chases Kaileena's kidnappers into the palace, only to be stopped by one of the Vizier's generals, Mahasti with the Daggertail, a serrated weapon, embedding it deep into his left arm. The Prince is then forced to watch the Vizier kill Kaileena, which releases the Sands of Time again. As the Prince lacked any protection this time (he had thrown away the Medallion, and the Vizier was in the possession of the Dagger of Time), he was infected by the Sands as well, albeit at a much slower rate than anyone else. Retrieving the Dagger of Time, the Prince contained the corruption, albeit temporarily, within his left arm. The infected arm gained a glowing, golden spiral design, along with the Daggertail which fused itself with it. As time passes, the Prince hears a voice within his head, giving him advice and urging him along. The extent of the Sands' taint eventually starts to grow as the game progresses, covering the Prince's entire left arm and part of his back. The exact reason for his mutation being resisted in the first place is ambiguous; the Dark Prince tells him later that he may have grown a resistance to the Sands: perhaps from extended use of the Sands or the Dagger of Time or perhaps from the nights he spent with Kaileena. Eventually, he begins sporadically transforming into the Dark Prince, whose unique skills allow the Prince to continue in his quest. Upon touching water, the Prince reverts to his normal form. The Inner Struggle At first the Prince accepts the Dark Prince's help without question, but his increasing interaction with Princess Farah leads him to question his other side. Eventually, he realizes that the Dark Prince is only looking out for his own selfish avarice, and that vengeance, conquest, and subjugation, rather than constructive goals, are topping his goals. The Prince rejects this malevolent presence and finishes his journey without the Dark Prince's help. The Final Battle After slaying the Vizier and apparently losing the Sands' taint, the Prince encounters the Dark Prince once more, saying the words he had heard in Kaileena's vision, who pulls him into a strange dream-like realm. The Prince chases his dark counterpart down as the shifting landscape changes; shifting to various locations from the past games, such as the magic fountain room from Sands of Time and the ship and time portal from Warrior Within. As the Prince chases him, the Dark Prince reveals indirectly that he is the embodiment of the dark traits the Prince has, manifested by the Sands when he resisted direct infection. Everything that the Dark Prince is was already present in the Prince before the transformation. In effect, the Prince has two souls inhabiting his body. The Dark Prince intends on distracting the Prince and overcoming him, but he is thwarted again by Farah, who urges the Prince to let go of his hatred and turn away. The Prince ascends a staircase leading into a bright light and the Dark Prince is left behind once and for all, shouting into oblivion, as the Prince wakes, finally free of his influence. Gameplay While the Prince was in his dark form, he could still think, act, and reason like his normal self. The Dark Prince's voice in his physical form is a coarser, rougher version of the actual Prince's (mirroring the effects on his body); the Dark Prince's real voice is inside the Prince's head, a soft, cunning, wily voice. In this corrupted form, the Prince continually loses health until he dies, unlike the Sand Wraith, whence it stops at a quarter of the original health. In order to regain health, one must collect Sands of Time, upon which the Dark Prince's health meter will become full. Also unlike the Sand Wraith, the sand slots do not get refilled when in the Dark Prince form, but as almost every container you can crack open will have Sands, this is not too much of a problem. Powers and Abilities Abilities :Seemingly those of The Prince *'Daggertail': With the introduction of the Daggertail, the Dark Prince can perform significantly greater feats of acrobatics and attacking combinations in comparison to the normal Prince. The Dark Prince can now wall-run for a dramatically longer time after hooking the Daggertail into a lamp jutting out of the wall. Another use is hooking the Daggertail to an out-of-reach pole while jumping to extend the jump's length.The Dark Prince can now form new combos against his enemies, which are far more lethal with the Daggertail than they ever could be without. Many of the most dangerous attacks include a good mix of the Dagger of Time and the Daggertail. Powers *'Superhuman Strength': While in this form, the Prince's Strength increases. His strength increased enough to where he was able to overpower one of the Vizier's Generals, Mahasti, whose strength and speed were also enhanced by the power of the Sands. Weakness *'Dependency for the Sands of Time': The Prince, during his transformation, gains a dependency for the Sands. If he does not within a certain amount of time, he will die. Gallery Dark Prince crown.jpg Dark Prince.JPG 1057698437.jpg 41.jpg 926984 20050826 screen003.jpg Art 3572 id 1 mw 520.jpeg Dark Prince.jpg Darkprince0.jpg POPT2T Throne Dark Prince.jpg Popt2t dark prince daggertail pilar.jpg File:PoP_Dark_Prince.jpg PrinceDuality.jpg Concept Art KindredBlades DarkPrince.png|Dark Prince original design DarkPrince.JPG Prince Dark.JPG Inner Battle.JPG Trivia *The Dark Prince was voiced by Michael Rudder in Warrior Within and comedian Rick Miller in The Two Thrones. *It is speculated that repeated exposure to the Sands and objects such as the Mask of the Wraith granted the Prince a certain level of resistance to the corruption (that speculation is supported by comments made by the Dark Prince during the Prince's first transformation in the sewers of Babylon). *The presence of two "souls" within the Prince is parallel with the genuine psychological condition known as split personality. *It should be noted that the brutality present in the combat techniques of the Dark Prince are similar in intensity to those of the Prince in Warrior Within. This could be interpreted as the Prince in The Two Thrones is a combination of his incarnations in the first two games, the good-hearted "original" prince of The Sands of Time, and the coarser (and darker) prince of Warrior Within. *In a teaser it was shown that the Dark Prince face and kill Klompa in the arena, but in the game this didn't happen. It's possible that it was originally intended but was changed. See Also *Daggertail *Dagger of Time Category:Two Thrones Enemies Category:Two Thrones Characters Category:Allies Category:Two Thrones Category:Sand Enemies Category:Sands of Time Canon Category:Deceased Category:Warrior Within Characters Category:Boss Category:Two Thrones Boss